May 2010

I'm so excited to have finished this project! This tiny toy train was commissioned by a friend as a gift for her boyfriend, who is crazy about trains. He's also a big fan of the Polar Express book and movie. This miniature railroad layout is 4" square and fits in a clear lucite box for display.

I made the track entirely out of polymer clay. It has 210 individually made (and attached) railroad ties, each only 3/16" (4.5mm) long. A hill and some trees complete the snowy landscape.

The handpainted metal train is about 4.5" (11cm) long. It has three passenger cars and a coal car. The passenger cars are each just under an inch long and 3/8" (9mm) tall, the engine is a little bit bigger. The engine has a tiny brass bell on it and a wee engineer in the window, although you can't really see that in the pictures. I used whiskers shed by my cat for some of the finest painting on the train (I knew I saved them for something!)